


Happy Birthday, Julian.

by orphan_account



Category: The Arcana (Visual Novel)
Genre: Apprentice has no defined gender, Birthday Fluff, Birthday Party, F/F, Faust loves to squeeze, I Tried, I Wrote This Instead of Sleeping, Multi, Nameless Apprentice, No Spoilers I Promise, Other, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, im not sorry, im serious julian really loves the apprentice, it starts off like it might be sad but it isnt that way for long, julian loves his friends and they love him, the portia x nadia isnt a big thing but its there, this is so self-indulgent, this is two days late
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-14
Updated: 2019-03-14
Packaged: 2019-11-18 00:00:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,697
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18109175
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: Apprentice has something special planned for Julian's birthday and he's none the wiser





	Happy Birthday, Julian.

**Author's Note:**

> *shows up two days late with this* happy birthday julian. you can see where i stopped being decent and just wrote to finish it up but i tried

You never could have predicted that the night Julian broke into your shop was the night your life would be taking a dramatically different turn from then on.

Since then, you’ve faced countless hardships and experienced things the likes of which no one with even the most active imagination could have dreamt up. Every new turn brought an unforeseen twist that only exacerbated the problems you faced, and many nights went by where you wondered what the next day held for you. Chaos? Bloodshed? A damn break for once? You never knew for sure. You stopped being sure of things the night Julian broke into your shop with his damn plague doctor mask and bossy demeanor.

There is, however, one thing you’ve remained sure of through it all.

Looking back, you’re proud of how you managed to keep both yourself and Julian together. With a man as self-deprecating as Julian, maintaining a hold on your grip of reality and what you knew to be true was difficult even at the most simple times. You knew there was something about Julian that just didn’t fit the puzzle, and that something motivated you to find the truth before a potentially innocent man was condemned for a crime he didn’t commit. During your search for the truth you found that Julian was much more than his usual debonair persona. You found that he was kind, caring, worth so much more than he gave himself credit for, and amidst all the chaos you found yourself drawn to the prospect of proving to him an unknown truth that he could have never expected.

He is worth so much more than he thought, and thanks to you he finally started to believe it.

It’s been months since the final battle was won, and every day since you’ve woken up to find Julian beside you, snoring quietly while the world rose around you both. You never have it in you to wake him when you wise with the sun, knowing how little he sleeps. Each morning is a little different from the last, though you never forget to stop and thank the sun rising over Vesuvia for the man in your bed. Sometimes you have breakfast plated by the time Julian is finally up and moving. Other times you lie there, still, unwilling to disturb him. Then there are the rare mornings where Julian is up before you are and chooses to kiss you awake. You love those mornings best, mornings where Julian wakes up and praises whatever higher power he believes in for the fact that you’ve given him a chance that he’ll never take for granted.

This morning, the morning of Julian’s birthday, you wake up even earlier and sneak out of bed, thankful for Julian’s last second shift in position that made him release you. As promised Portia is waiting outside your shop, grinning. “Good morning! Ilya still asleep?”

“Good morning, Portia. He is, for now,” you inform her, digging into your pocket for the list she asked you to make. “Asra and I are taking him shopping today.”

“As long as he’s distracted until it’s time, do whatever you want to keep him busy.” Portia takes the paper from your hand and reads it over before folding it nearly and slipping it into the pocket of her own pants. “Barth’s already made sure everyone knows the Raven is closed for a few hours later tonight for the occasion. Catering is already covered and milady’s got a team assembled to clean up the gardens.”

You stare at her in awe, “how long have you been awake, Portia?”

She just winks knowingly, and you decide it’s better not to question her, “remember the meet point?”

“Of course,” you say. How could you forget? She had only been drilling the plan into everyone’s head over and over for the past week; you don’t think you could forget if you tried. “Thanks again for your help. I don’t think we could do any of this without you.”

Portia smiles, brushing her bangs out of her eyes, “just because Ilya isn’t much for celebration doesn’t mean we can’t give him the best damn birthday ever.”

You know she’s right. She always is.

"I've got to get going, but I'll see you soon!" 

“See you soon, Portia.”

She’s off with a polite wave of her hand, and you enter the shop quietly, hoping you didn’t somehow manage to disturb Julian. Thankfully he’s still asleep, though the lack of your body beside him has made him curl around the pillow where your head was just minutes ago. Julian looks most peaceful when asleep, with lips parted and auburn curls cradling his face. At least when he’s asleep he’s not getting into trouble, you find yourself thinking. You wish you could commit the image to memory forever.

You’re just starting breakfast when Asra appears with Faust curled around their arm and wishes you good morning. You return the sentiment and extend one to Faust, who lifts her head to boop you on the nose as a greeting. Together you quietly discuss today’s plans and prepare breakfast, Asra taking over the food preparation while you boil water for tea and coffee, making sure you thank the stove salamander once again. Despite normally being a light sleeper, the invigorating smell of coffee is what finally pulls Julian from the clutches of REM sleep. It’s too welcoming to ignore, you know this, so when a strong pair of arms wind around your waist and a kiss is pressed to the top of your head you aren’t surprised, “good morning, Julian.”

“Good morning my dear, sleep well?” He watches you pour his coffee, his arms never leaving your waist.

“Mhm. You?” you ask, tilting your head up to kiss his jaw. You already know the answer. Despite this, he smiles, lowering his head to your shoulder. The warmth of his bare skin pressed against you is a comfort you hold dear. “You can go back to bed if you want.”

“Nonsense, I’m wide awake and ready to seize the day!” You figured he would say something like that and pour water for you and Asra’s tea. Behind you, Julian is grinning at Asra, who’s plating the finished meal. “Morning Asra! Sleep well?”

“Morning, Ilya,” he responds, unbothered by the fact that Julian seemed to ignore him when he first wandered into the kitchen. “I slept fine. Come sit down and eat.”

Whether purposely or not, Julian seems to be brushing off the importance of today in favor of acting like today is just another day. You definitely aren’t having that. “After breakfast, we’re taking you shopping.”

Julian finally releases his hold on you and sits across from Asra, smilingly cautiously at Faust, who has her attention carefully trained on Julian. “What for?”

“Just to get out,” you respond automatically, placing mugs down in front of the two of them. “It’s a beautiful day today. We should go enjoy it.” Any lingering questions die in Julian’s throat when Faust takes it upon herself to slither off Asra’s arm and across the floor to Julian’s waiting leg. The look of horror on Julian’s face is enough to make you laugh, and with a patient smile you watch Faust make her way up to Julian’s bare arm. “She’s asking if you’ll let her squeeze yet.”

“ _Squeeze_!” Faust repeats, curling around Julian.

His eyes, wide with shock, never leave her. His frown pulls upward into a false smile, “P-Perhaps some other time.”

Unsatisfied with this answer, Faust flicks her tongue at Julian. She doesn’t leave his arm however, and he’s forced to dine with her around him. You barely manage to suppress a grin whenever her head comes dangerously close to his fork, the threat of her stealing a bite too humorous to ignore. Julian finishes breakfast with startling speed, perhaps eager to pass Faust back to Asra, who’s also been taking immense joy from Julian’s plight. Faust gives in at last and slithers back over to Asra’s waiting arm, and Julian’s chest heaves from his obvious sigh of relief. While you retreat to your room to dress, Julian and Asra tackle dishes, chatting idly about the meal and blatantly ignoring the invitation to discuss the importance of today. The comfort of knowing Asra is a master secret keeper easily dispels any worries that surface when you think about today’s plans.

When everyone is dressed and ready, you take Julian’s arm and follow Asra out of the shop, stopping only to turn around and lock it. The sun shines brightly upon Vesuvia, and already the area is teaming with life. You two bring Julian by the bakery to say hello to Selasi, who wishes him a happy birthday and gifts him a full pumpkin loaf, which you three tear into almost immediately. Afterwards you make your way into the market, and it’s there you spend the majority of the day, visiting every stall and creating new memories you’ll end up looking back on for years to come.

At last, it’s time to meet Portia. As planned Asra takes Julian’s attention off of you long enough to convince him to visit the dock while you slip away. Portia is waiting at the palace gates with a smile on her face, adorned in a beautiful dress with her enormous amount of curls pinned above her head, “Ilya distracted?”  
  
“Very,” you say, taking her arm and following her through the gates. She guides you to the  guest room you stayed in when Nadia enlisted your help all those months ago, and waiting for you are three outfits for you to choose from, all courtesy of Nadia. “Milady and I will be waiting for you in the gardens when you’re done!” She’s gone in an instant, and you’re left alone to dress. It’s the perfect opportunity to reflect, and reflect you do. You wonder what life would be like had the path you took lead you somewhere different. Thinking about it makes unpleasant thoughts rise to the surface, and you banish them, thinking instead of all the good that came along with the choice to prove Julian’s innocence.

Freshly dressed in a simple but elegant ensemble, you make your way to the gardens where Nadia and Portia are waiting. Nadia is dressed in a flowing down that accentuates her features, and seeing you she smiles jovially, extending her hand to gesture at you, “you look exceptional.” You grin and tell her she looks lovely, turning to look around to study the work of the team she assembled in the early hours of the morning. It looks beautiful, and you turn to Nadia to ask if it’s truly alright that you reserve the gardens for the occasion. She dismisses your worry outright. “Cleaning up the gardens has been on the agenda for months. If any occasion is important enough to make it a priority, it’s this one.” She gives you a smile and you return it easily.

To add a bit more flavor, you use your magic to enchant the water of the fountain to cycle through a variety of colors. You’re busy creating colored lights to hang around when Portia rushes past the cooks who are setting the meal up, “he’s here, you have to get going!”

She starts pushing you away from what you were doing and you allow it, knowing putting up any sort of a fight is pointless. You catch Asra leading a blindfolded Julian past the gates and grin, “I’ll take it from here, Asra.”

Julian’s face lights up when he hears your voice, and he grins wickedly when you take his hand, “I knew you were behind this.”

Despite knowing he can’t see it, you smirk, “come on love, there’s one last thing we need to do.” Asra and Portia slip away and you bring Julian inside. True to her word Portia has an outfit laid out for Julian in the guest room, and as soon as the door is closed you start tugging off his jacket, “come on Ilya, get undressed.”

“Oh- _ho_ , I like where this is going,” he purrs, letting you undress him with a wiggle of his brow, his tone laced with thinly-concealed suggestiveness. You ignore it for the time being. You’ll have time for _that_ type of celebration later. As you begin to dress him in the outfit the countess gifted him, Julian becomes confused by what’s happening, the feeling of the silk against his skin foreign, “what, uh, what are you doing anyway?”

“You’ll see.” Julian asks a few more questions in the time it takes to get him fully dressed, but he places full control into your hands and the process finishes up without a hitch. You give Nadia credit where credit is due – Julian looks absolutely exquisite like this. “Ready, Ilya?”

With a lift of his brow, Julian reaches blindly for your waist and says yes. You take his arm and put it around you, using your free hand to keep a hold of him so he doesn’t slip away from you. Together you walk out to the gardens, where everyone is waiting. Asra, dressed in their own fancy get up and having taken the liberty of finishing up where you left off, winks at you and motions in the direction of the tastefully decorated chair waiting for Julian at the front and center of it all like a throne. Portia, looking incredibly giddy with excitement, grins like she’s in her prime. Thinking about it, you suppose she is. With Julian seated, you make your way around and start undoing the knot that keeps the blindfold on, counting backwards from three. “Three…”

Nadia takes one last look around before turning her attention back to Julian with a neutral smile.

“Two…”

Portia silently claps her hands together, waiting.

“One…”

Asra looks proud of you, smiling with Faust around his waist.

“Surprise!” The blindfold falls to Julian’s lap, and he blinks, looking around with a confused expression while the white spots explode in his eyes. It takes him a moment to register his surroundings, but when he does he breaks out in a grin. “Happy birthday, Julian!” you all chant, save for Nadia, who observes the display like it’s a bizarre ritual.

“I _knew_ you were all planning something!” Julian declares confidently, either ignoring the snake slithering towards him or not even noticing her as Portia bounds forward and crushes him in a strong hug, pulling the breath right out of his lungs and lifting him off the ground. He takes in the elaborate birthday feast before him and the decorations, returning Portia’s hug with just as much gusto. The moment his eyes lock on yours, he releases his sister and pulls you in for a kiss, which you return enthusiastically. “Thank you all,” he says when you part, grinning like a man who owns the world.

“ _Birthday_ _squeeze_?” Faust asks, looking up at Julian from her place around his leg, which he notices with sudden cognizance.

“She wants to give you a birthday squeeze, Ilya,” Asra translates with a sly smile, watching t scene unfold. You know the look anywhere; Asra’s look of mischief, one he saves for when Faust tries to give affection to anyone who’s slightly nervous around her.

The natural apprehension quickly melts away when Julian sees how Faust is looking at him. “Oh, alright." Faust makes a noise of delight and starts curling around Julian’s leg, slithering upward and absolutely delighted by the prospect of his approval. When she finds her way around his arm, she begins to curl around it snuggly but affectionately. “This… Isn’t so bad,” he concludes, watching Faust move. When she reaches the top of his arm, she puts her face directly in front of him, staring at him like she’s planning something. As if he understands what she’s about to do, Julian smiles, “yes?”

She boops his nose suddenly, surprising him enough to make him flinch. “ _Friend_!!”

Julian’s wide eyes land on you for clarification, his smile dropping into a confused frown. Having seen Faust do this several times before, you are happy to tell him what she said. “She’s calling you her friend.”

Julian turns back to Faust, who flicks her tongue at him happily, and nods, “friends. I apologise for being so nervous before, Faust. You’re welcome to squeeze whenever you see fit.”

“ _Squeeze_!” she repeats, tightening around his arm.

His laugh, albeit nervous, is genuine. You think you'll later come up regret that invitation but brush it off for the time being. His eyes land on Nadia. “Thank you for this, Countess. Though I had no idea what everyone was planning, I appreciate you letting us celebrate here.”

“Always remember that you are a welcomed guest,” Nadia answers, her eloquent dictation unmatched. “As well as a dear friend, Julian. It was my idea to celebrate your birthday here, after all.”

He looks surprised at this, but before he can ask anymore questions you hug him, gently petting the top of Faust’s head. “C’mon, the cooks made your favorite!”

Dinner is wonderful, filled with hearty laughter and playful banter. With your bellies full you all sit down and watch Julian open his gifts, each of which he takes with a heartfelt thank you. When you tell him you’ll be continuing the celebration at the Rowdy Raven, he beams, “you’re incredible.” You kiss him in response. Nadia commands a carriage to the bar, and the look on her face when she arrives makes Julian laugh, “worry not Nadia, we won’t get _too_ rowdy.” But the look on his face promises nothing but mischief, and you wonder if Nadia notices.

Hours pass and after successfully coercing Nadia into a dance, Julian is giddy and warm, down a few drinks and enjoying the company. He clings to you, and with alcohol on his breath he proclaims his love for you a dozen times over. You stop him only when he begins to get teary-eyed while talking about how much you mean to him and whisper promises against his lips, telling him you love him and nothing will ever change that. Eventually, Asra comes over to whisper something in your ear that Julian strains to catch. You nod and turn to him. He pretends he wasn’t listening at all. “Come on love, we’re going back to the palace for the night.”

Loose-lipped with glee, Julian agrees and follows you out, loudly thanking Barth for his time as he passes. The ride back is filled with giggling, all of you having had just enough to keep the party going. When you arrive back, the gardens have been cleaned and what remained of your magical décor has faded. You sit on the edge of the fountain and beckon for Julian to join you, which he does, stumbling only slightly in his effort to get to your side as quickly as possible. “Have I ever told you how much I love you?” he asks, throwing his arms around you and just barely managing to sit on the edge without tipping over.

“I love you too,” you say, kissing his head. Flushed, Julian stares at you, as if you’re a complex puzzle he’s working to resolve. You ask him if he’s alright.

“I’m just wondering how I got so lucky.” He takes your hand and kisses it, albeit a little sloppily. “You are everything I never knew I needed.”

It’s your turn to flush. His sweet words coerce another “I love you” from behind your lips, and you lean forward to kiss him.

Julian doesn’t expect you to turn on him and push him backwards into the fountain.

You’re laughing hysterically when he surfaces, spluttering and effectively sobered up, “you-!” He doesn’t get to finish his sentence, for you’ve just thrown a face full of water at him, still laughing. Julian grabs your wrist and pulls you in as payback. You can’t say you’re surprised. Though you’ve stopped laughing and your clothes are thoroughly soaked, there’s no place you’d rather be. You grin and run your hand through Julian’s fringe, pushing the hair back from his stormy grey eyes. Then you turn and call for the others, urgently motioning for them to join you.

Portia doesn’t think twice about grabbing Nadia’s hand and pulling her forward with remarkable strength. Somewhere amidst your haze you commend her for her bravery. Soon enough your friends have all joined you in the fountain. Nadia, who first looked aghast at the premise of such an activity, is laughing, her perfectly done hair now ruined. She kisses Portia right then and there, and you temporarily go deaf at how loud Julian cheers. When Asra arrives at the edge of the fountain, you and Julian exchange a look before seizing a wrist each and pulling Asra and Faust on top of you both. Faust makes a noise of delight and curls around Julian with a proud cry of “ _love_ _water_!!” and Asra mock glares at you like you’ve offended his greatest ancestor.

Everyone is still splashing around when the dying inkiness of the night sky gives way to morning lilac that swirls with a dreamy combination of morning pink and orange. It’s only then you all decide it’s best to call the celebration a success. Still dripping wet, Portia runs off to gather towels and pajamas for everyone. You wonder if she planned for this beforehand. Knowing you’ve got to meet with Mazelinka later today, you convince Julian to slip on his pajamas and climb into the guest bed with you. He’s much too exhausted to do anything but comply, and when his arms wrap around you you decide that you prefer him loosing sleep from something like this than over the relentless nightmares that plague him.

Any original plan Julian might’ve had when you two finally made it to bed is quickly tossed out when he yawns. With one final round of sweet nothings followed by a heartfelt “thank you,” Julian is asleep within minutes. You drift off in his arms not long afterwards, the heat from his body pacifying you and bringing your night to a close at last.

**Author's Note:**

> this whole thing was inspired by Nadia's Birthday, the first memory you unlock after getting enough trinkets. the main three are all close and you can pry that idea from my cold dead hands


End file.
